1. Share one of your most exhilarating moments during your Master’s program and how you conquered any challenges along the way. We’d love to learn from your experience!

One of the most exhilarating moments during my Master’s program was when I presented my research findings to my examiners and lecturers. It was a culmination of months of hard work, late nights, constructive thinking and overcoming challenges.

Conquering the challenges involved staying focused and organized throughout the project. I had to collect and process two sets of data because the first dataset did not yield meaningful results after a whole month of trying to make sense of it, but I sought guidance from previous research, my supervisor, and peers. This taught me how to overcome failure as a learning process and progress with courage to achieve my results.

2. Mastering the art of balance is key! How did you juggle academics with extracurriculars or part-time work? Drop some pearls of wisdom for maintaining balance.

Balancing academics with extracurriculars or part-time work was required a lot of discipline and time management. My pearls of wisdom are as follows.

-Self-care: take care of your mental and physical well-being, sufficient sleep is very important but on days when you must deprive yourself of sleep ensure you make adequate plans for the following day.

-Time management: create a schedule that accommodates work and study, maximize study time to ensure you get the best from it and then embark on your part-time work wholeheartedly. In my case, most of my study time was spent in the library as it enabled me to have maximum focus and concentrate on the task at hand. It also gave me the opportunity to meet like minds and discuss.

-Prioritize: set realistic goals, time is of the essence, don’t dwell on what would not yield substantial results.

3. Collaboration makes the academic world go round! How did you rock teamwork and communication with peers and professors? Any secrets to being a great team player?

In the academic world, collaboration is important for success. I had to listen attentively to my professors and go over notes to understand each class. I also paid attention to my peers’ perspectives as we exchanged ideas. Every idea is important as nobody knows it all, and even when you know the answer, the contribution of your peers would give you a whole new insight into how the task could be completed. I also learnt to listen to groups of people and understand tasks from different perspectives.